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Walter Benjamin, the last night | Michel Tabachnik | Lyrical drama in 14 scenes, 2016 | Libretto by Régis Debray | In French, English and German
"Walter Benjamin, the last night" tells a story of solitude, of a refugee chased by the Nazis | The action takes place in 1940; Benjamin has just arrived in Portbou, a Catalonian village close to the French border. He has finally followed his friends’ advice and fled the country. In his miserable hotel room, he relives his life in a range of flashbacks about his pathway, meetings and regrets… Despair overruns him as he discovers that a law could send him back to France. He kills himself. The law will never be applied. Once again, the Opera of Lyon partners with two French-speaking intellectuals: the philosoph Regis Debray, and the chef and componer Michel Tabachnik. They here work together to evoke the personality of a fascinating, but contested man.
Walter Benjamin (singer) : Jean-Noël Briend | Walter Benjamin (actor) : Sava Lolov | Asja Lacis : Michaela Kus¡teková | Hanna Arendt : Michaela Selinger | Arthur Koestler : Charles Rice | Gershom Sholem : Scott Wilde | Bertolt Brecht : Jeff Martin | André Gide : Gilles Ragon | Theodor Adorno : Karoly Szemeredy | The cabaret singer: April Hailer | Mme Henny Gurland : Elsa Rigmor Thiemann | Joseph Gurland : Baptiste Mansot | The Boss: Emmanuel Amado | The Doctor: Bruno Froment | Archivist player: François Leviste | Orchestra and Chorus of the Opéra de Lyon, Choir of the Opéra de Lyon
Conducted by: Bernhard Kontarsky | Directed by: John Fulljames | Sets: Michael Levine | Costumes : Christina Cunningham | Lighting: James Farncombe | Choreography: Maxine Braham | Video : Will Duke | Sound : Carolyn Downing | Choral director : Philip White
French
English
Production compagny : Telmondis
Coproduction compagny : Mezzo, France Télévisions
Running Time : 1x90'
Production Year : 2016
Distribution compagny : Telmondis Distribution
Video Format : HD